We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.ContinueFind out more

‘The young lad behind the bar poured him half a pint of neat whiskey!’

‘And I followed that with a large shot of neat single malt whisky.’

‘Next week - Tara parachutes into a Siberian bear-trappers get-together, joining them all for a quick drink of three pints of neat vodka.’

‘It was 7pm and the night was still young, yet the three people sitting next to me were so keen to get their evening started that they were already each drinking from their own litre bottle of neat vodka.’

‘Lace half a bottle of neat spirits with a powerful horse laxative and leave it in the glove box or a prominent place in your home.’

‘This is where Dylan Thomas drank 18 neat whiskies, his last.’

‘Sponge the woolly bits with neat washing-up liquid, suggests a reader who says her father used to deal with greenfly on his roses in this way.’

‘Put a few drops of neat tea tree oil in a bowl of hot water, stick a towel over your head and breathe deeply for a few minutes.’

‘The meal is a full Russian spread, and in between the different courses shots of neat vodka are served.’

‘Among tequila connoisseurs, the best anejo tequilas rank with the finest cognacs and are often consumed neat from a snifter.’

‘We'd still end up drinking neat vodka and dancing on the table at four in the morning, but I couldn't shake off the suspicion that they had moved off towards adulthood without me.’

‘The Raki is like Ouzo or Ricard (try it neat as well as with water) and goes well with the food.’

‘Drink them neat or drink them with lots of water.’

‘And you could never drink it neat unless you wanted to burn a hole in the lining of your stomach.’

‘These kids are not just drinking little cans of beer - they are drinking bottles of vodka, neat.’

‘To relieve the irritation of an insect bite itch, apply neat apple cider vinegar to the itchy spot, or add 500 ml of apple cider vinegar to a warm bath and soak in it.’

‘For persistent cases, paint with neat lavender oil.’

‘But when it comes to adult conversation and emotional and practical support, emailing two old friends is like drinking lemonade when what you really need is a neat whisky.’

‘Put five drops of the neat oil on a dry, cold compress and cover the burn.’

‘He also points to a fondness for strong drink taken neat; whisky and vodka rather than English ale or Irish stout.’

‘So after you serve a Martini or Scotch, neat, return moments later with a glass of water.’

Origin

Late 15th century (in the sense clean, free from impurities): from French net, from Latin nitidus shining from nitere to shine; related to net. The sense bright (now obsolete) was recorded in English in the late 16th century.